Method and apparatus for customizing audio signal processing for a user

ABSTRACT

A method and an apparatus for customizing audio data processing are provided. The method includes receiving audio data through a wireless communication channel from an external device; decoding the received audio data; reducing noise of the decoded audio data; identifying hearing characteristics of a user by testing hearing abilities of the user at a plurality of frequency bands; adjusting a dynamic range of each of the plurality of frequency bands based on the hearing characteristics; processing the noise-reduced audio data based on the adjusted dynamic range of each of the plurality of frequency bands; and outputting the processed audio data.

PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 14/034,016, whichwas filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Sep. 23, 2013, andclaims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) to Korean Patent ApplicationSerial No. 10-2012-0104861, which was filed in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office on Sep. 21, 2012, the entire disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to improving audio quality, andmore particularly, to a method and mobile device that customize audiosignal processing based on hearing characteristics of a particular user.

2. Description of the Related Art

Typically, a mobile device stores data corresponding to an audio signalin the mobile device, or receives an audio signal via a radiocommunication transceiver, decodes the audio signal, processes thedecoded audio signal such as cancelling noise from the decoded audiosignal, and outputs the noise-canceled audio data through a speaker oran external device interface (e.g., earphone jack or Bluetoothconnection).

However, a conventional mobile device outputs the audio data at a fixedquality, which is configured by a manufacturer of the mobile device.

More specifically, in order to improve quality, the conventional mobiledevice uses a noise reduction technique, a sound pressure controltechnique, etc. However, a user's hearing characteristics are notreflected in the audio signal processing such as noise reduction andsound pressure control techniques because the quality is fixed to apredetermined level.

Accordingly, an audio signal that is adjusted to the fixed quality maynot be suitable for all users. That is, because users have differenthearing characteristics, audio provided by a mobile device will beexperienced differently by each of the users.

Further, the number of hearing-impaired persons is increasing everyyear. One of probable causes of this increase is the frequent use ofaudio devices such as an MP3 player or a headset at excessively loudlevels.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is designed to address at least theproblems and/or disadvantages described above and to provide at leastthe advantages described below.

An aspect of the present invention is to provide a method and mobiledevice for customizing audio processing for a user of the mobile device.

Another aspect of the aspect of the present invention is to provide amethod and mobile device that test hearing abilities and characteristicsof a user.

Another aspect of the aspect of the present invention is to provide amethod and mobile device that customize audio processing for a userbased on tested hearing abilities and characteristics of the user.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a method isprovided for customizing audio data processing. The method includesreceiving audio data through a wireless communication channel from anexternal device; decoding the received audio data; reducing noise of thedecoded audio data; identifying hearing characteristics of a user bytesting hearing abilities of the user at a plurality of frequency bands;adjusting a dynamic range of each of the plurality of frequency bandsbased on the hearing characteristics; processing the noise-reduced audiodata based on the adjusted dynamic range of each of the plurality offrequency bands; and outputting the processed audio data.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an apparatusis provided for customizing audio data processing. The apparatusincludes a radio communication unit which receives audio data through awireless communication channel from an external device; a speaker; and acontroller configured to decode the audio data received by the radiocommunication unit, reduce noise of the decoded audio data, test hearingcharacteristics of a user at a plurality of frequency bands, adjust adynamic range of each of the plurality of frequency bands based onresults of the testing, adjust the noise-reduced audio data based on theadjusted dynamic range of each of the plurality of frequency bands, andoutput the adjusted audio data to the user via the speaker.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certainembodiments of the present invention will be more apparent from thefollowing detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a mobile device according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a binary search method according to an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a conceptual operation of a control unit of a mobiledevice according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a hearing ability test methodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a hearing ability test methodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates examples of screens displayed to a user during ahearing ability test according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a hearing ability test methodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method for optimizing telephonyaudio quality to a user according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 9 illustrates examples of screens displayed to a user foroptimizing an in-call sound setting according to an embodiment of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 10 illustrates examples of screens displayed to a user for settingtelephony audio quality according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Various embodiments of the present invention will now be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the followingdescription, specific details such as detailed configuration andcomponents are merely provided to assist the overall understanding ofthese embodiments of the present invention. Therefore, it should beapparent to those skilled in the art that various changes andmodifications of the embodiments described herein can be made withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the present invention. Inaddition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions areomitted for clarity and conciseness.

In the following description, a mobile device may be any device equippedwith a radio communication device for voice telephony, such as asmartphone, a tablet Personal Computer (PC), a laptop PC, a desktop PC,a video phone, etc.

FIG. 1 illustrates a mobile device according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the mobile device includes a touchscreen 110, a keyinput unit 120, a storage unit 130, a radio communication unit 140, anaudio processing unit 150, a speaker (SPK), a microphone (MIC), anexternal device interface 160, and a control unit 170.

The touchscreen 110 facilitates interaction with the user and includes atouch panel 111 and a display panel 112. The touch panel 111 can beplaced on the display panel 112. The touch panel generates an analogsignal (e.g. touch signal) corresponding to a user gesture made on thetouch panel 111 and processes the analog signal to generate a digitalsignal to the control unit 170. The control unit 170 is aware of theuser gesture based on the touch signal from the touch panel 111. Theuser gesture is classified into one of a touch and a touch gesture. Thetouch gesture includes a ‘tap’, ‘drag’, ‘flick’, etc. The term ‘touch’denotes a state where an object contacts the surface of the touchscreen110, and the term ‘touch gesture’ denotes a state change of the touchfrom the touch-on instant to the touch-off instant. The touch panel maybe implemented as a combination of a finger touch panel and a pen touchpanel. Here, the finger touch panel is a capacitive type touch panel,but can also be one of a resistive type, an infrared type, a microwavetype, etc., touch panels. The finger touch panel may be configured togenerate an input signal in response to a touch gesture made with anobject (e.g. a conductive material capable of changing the capacitanceamount) as well as the user's finger. The pen touch panel may be anelectromagnetic induction type. In this case, the pen touch panelgenerates an input signal in response to the touch gesture made with atouch input tool, such as a stylus pen, capable of generating a magneticfield.

The display panel 112 converts the video data input by the control unit170 to an analog signal under the control of the control unit 170. Thatis, the display panel 112 displays various screen pictures, e.g. adevice lock screen, home screen, settings screen, application (App)execution screen, a keypad, and the like. The device lock screen isdisplayed when the display panel 112 turns on. If a user gesture forunlocking the device is detected, the control unit 170 is capable ofswitching the device lock screen to the home screen or applicationexecution screen. The home screen has a plurality of icons correspondingto the respective applications (e.g. settings, browser, telephony, andmessage applications). If one of the application icons is selected(tapped) by the user, the control unit 170 executes the correspondingapplication and controls the display panel 112 to display the executionscreen of the application. The display panel 112 displays one of thescreens (e.g. a page of home screen) as a background image and another(e.g. keypad) as a foreground image on the background image under thecontrol of the control unit 170. The display panel 112 is also capableof displaying multiple screens without overlapping among each otherunder the control of the control unit 170. For example, the displaypanel 112 is capable of displaying one of the screens in a first screenregion and another in a second screen region. The display panel 112 canbe implemented with a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), an Organic LightEmitted Diode (OLED), or an Active Matrix OLED (AMOLED).

The key input unit 120 is provided with a plurality of keys (buttons)for inputting alphanumeric information and configuring variousfunctions. These keys may include a menu call key, screen on/off key,power on/off key, volume control key, etc. The key input unit 120generates key event signals related to user settings and device functioncontrols to the control unit 170. The key events may include poweron/off event, volume control event, screen on/off event, etc. Thecontrol unit 170 controls the components in response to the key eventsignals. The keys (buttons) provided by the key input unit 120 can bereferred to as hard keys (buttons) while those provided by thetouchscreen 110 as soft keys (buttons). The key input unit 120, e.g., akeypad, is provided with a plurality of keys (buttons) for inputtingvarious user inputs such as volume control and setting ON/OFFcustomizing audio signal processing.

The storage unit 130, e.g., a memory device, may include a disc, aRandom Access Memory (RAM), a Read Only Memory (ROM), a flash memory,etc. The storage unit 130 stores data generated in and received by themobile device.

Particularly, the storage unit 130 stores hearing ability test sounds,which are output to a user (e.g., through the speaker (SPK) orheadphones 200). When outputting test sounds though the headphones 200,a user's right ear and left ear can each be tested during a single test.However, when outputting test sounds though the speaker (SPK), aseparate test will have to be performed for a user's right ear and leftear.

The test sounds may be classified by frequency and sound pressure. Forexample, when using 6 frequencies of 250 Hz, 500 Hz, 1 kHz, 2 kHz, 4kHz, and 8 kHz and 8 sound pressure levels from 0 to 80 dB at aninterval of 10 dB, i.e., 10 db, 20 dB, 30 dB, . . . , 80 dB, a total of48 test sounds are stored in the storage unit 130.

Although the description below uses 6 frequencies and 8 sound pressurelevels, the present invention is not limited thereto. The test soundsmay be generated at any frequency in the audible frequency range and atany sound pressure level, even over 80 dB. Also, the interval of thesound pressure level may differ, e.g., may be 5 dB.

Herein, the term “test sound pressure” refers to the sound pressurelevel converted in units of decibels Hearing Level (dBHL). Further, theterm “test frequency” refers to the frequency of the test sound, and theterm “test sound pressure range” refers to the range of the test soundpressure configurable for a test sound. That is, the sound pressurelevel of the test sound can be configured in the range of a configurabletest sound level range.

The storage unit 130 stores a parameter (auditory threshold, i.e., aminimum sound level that is audible with normal hearing) for changingthe dynamic range per frequency. Here, the dynamic range denotes thedifference (rate) between the loudest sound pressure and weakest soundin the received audio signal. Users may have dynamic ranges depending ontheir hearing characteristics.

The storage unit 130 stores an Operating System (OS) for operating themobile device and various programs.

Particularly, the storage unit 130 stores a hearing ability test programfor checking an auditory threshold and an audio signal processingprogram for processing the received audio signal.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, varioushearing ability test programs may be used, e.g., a descending methodprogram, an ascending method program, a hybrid method program, and abinary search method program. The descending method program measuresauditory thresholds in order from a highest level to a lowest level foreach frequency in a stepwise manner. The ascending method programmeasures auditory thresholds in order from a lowest level to a highestlevel in a stepwise manner. The hybrid method program compensates fordifferences between auditory threshold decisions of the descending andascending method programs. That is, the hybrid method program performsthe ascending method program to determine an initial auditory thresholdand then performs the descending method program to determine the finalauditory threshold, or performs the descending method program todetermine the initial auditory threshold and then the ascending methodprogram to determine the final auditory threshold.

FIG. 2 illustrates a binary search method according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the control unit 170 performs a test on thecorresponding test frequency a number of times, e.g., 4 times (stages),and when the potential auditory threshold existence space (or range)decreases to 5 dB or less, stops the binary search and determines thecorresponding space (e.g., 55 to 60 dB) as the auditory threshold forthe corresponding test frequency.

Specifically, in FIG. 2, at the first stage, the range of 0 dB to 80 dBis divided in half into a region at or below 40 dB and a region above 40dB, and a test signal is output at 40 dB. Because the user cannot hearthe test signal at 40 dB, the region at or below 40 dB is determined asan auditory threshold absence space, and the region above 40 dB isdetermined as an auditory threshold presence space.

Because the potential auditory threshold is located in the range greaterthan 40 bB to 80 dB, at the second stage, this range is then divided inhalf into a region at or below 60 dB and a region above 60 dB, and atest signal is output at 60 dB. Because the user can hear the testsignal at 60 dB, the region at or below 60 dB is determined as anauditory threshold presence space, and the region above 60 dB isdetermined as an auditory threshold absence space.

Because the potential auditory threshold is located in the range greaterthan 40 bB to 60 dB, at the third stage, this range is then divided inhalf into a region at or below 50 dB and a region above 50 dB, and atest signal is output at 50 dB. Because the user cannot hear the testsignal at 50 dB, the region at or below 50 dB is determined as anauditory threshold absence space, and the region above 50 dB isdetermined as an auditory threshold presence space.

Because the potential auditory threshold is located in the range greaterthan 50 bB to 60 dB, at the fourth stage, this range is then divided inhalf into a region at or below 55 dB and a region above 55 dB, and atest signal is output at 55 dB. Because the user cannot hear the testsignal at 55 dB, the region at or below 55 dB is determined as anauditory threshold absence space, and the region above 55 dB isdetermined as an auditory threshold presence space.

Further, because the range of 55 dB to 60 dB is 5 dB or less, thecorresponding space is determined as the auditory threshold for thecorresponding test frequency.

The received audio signal processing program includes functions fordecoding the audio signal received by the radio communication unit 140,performing noise reduction (or noise suppression) and noise gating onthe decoded audio signal, adjusting the dynamic range per frequency withthe parameter (i.e., auditory threshold), and changing the receivedaudio signal using the adjusted dynamic range for each frequency. Forexample, assuming an auditory threshold of 20 dB for the user at afrequency of 1 kHz, the received audio signal processing program maychange the dynamic range of 1 kHz component of the received audio signalfrom 0-80 dB to 20-80 dB. If so, when the 1 kHz frequency component ofthe received signal has a size of 10 dB, the size of the 1 kHz frequencycomponent of the received signal may be changed from 10 dB to 20 dB ormore within the adjusted dynamic range.

The storage unit 130 may store the embedded applications and third partyapplications. The embedded applications denote the applicationsinstalled on the mobile terminal 100. For example, the embeddedapplication can be any of browser, email, instant messenger, etc.,applications. The third party applications are applications that can bedownloaded from online markets and installed on the mobile terminal 100.The third party applications can be installed and uninstalled whenevernecessary. Once the mobile terminal 100 turns on, the booting program isloaded on the main memory (e.g. RAM) of the control unit 170. Thebooting program loads the OS of the mobile terminal on the main memory.The OS loads and executes various programs on the main memory. Inparticular, when the telephone function is activated, the OS loads andexecutes the audio signal processing program on the main memory. Sincethe terminal booting and program loading procedures are well-known inthe computer system field, a detailed description thereof is omittedherein.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the radio communication unit 140 isresponsible for voice telephony, video telephony, and data communicationunder the control of the control unit 170. For example, the radiocommunication unit 140 includes a Radio Frequency (RF) transceiver forup-converting and amplifying a signal to be transmitted and low noiseamplifying and down-converting a received signal. The radiocommunication unit 140 may include a cellular communication transceiver(e.g., 3^(rd) Generation (3G), 3.5G, and 4G cellular communication), adigital broadcast transceiver (e.g., DMB), and a short rangecommunication transceiver (e.g., Wi-Fi or Bluetooth).

The audio processing unit 150 may include the speaker (SPK) and themicrophone (MIC) to support voice recognition, voice recording and audioinput/output for voice communication. The audio processing unit 150converts the analog audio signal received through the microphone (MIC)to a digital audio signal and sends the digital audio signal to thecontrol unit 170. The speaker outputs an audio sound wave, and themicrophone (MIC) receives a human voice or other sound.

The external device interface 160, e.g., a headphone jack, is providedto attach an external device, e.g., headphones 200. The external deviceinterface 160 may also connect the headphones 200 to the mobile deviceusing short range communication (e.g., Bluetooth).

The control unit 170 controls overall operations of the mobile device.For example, the control unit 170 includes a storage device for storingapplication programs and an OS, a cache memory for caching data to bestored in the storage unit 130 and read from the storage unit 130, aCentral Processing Unit (CPU), and a Graphic Processing Unit (GPU). TheCPU and GPU can be integrated into a package as a multi core (e.g.,quad-core) single integrated circuit, in the form of System on Chip(SoC), or in the form of a multi-layer package. The CPU and GPU may bereferred together as an Application Processor (AP).

FIG. 3 illustrates a conceptual operation of a control unit of a mobiledevice according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the control unit 170 performs functions of ahearing ability tester 171, an audio decoder 172, a noise suppressor173, a dynamic range controller 174, a sound pressure adjuster 175, anda tone color adjuster 176.

The hearing ability tester 171 tests the hearing ability of a user anddetermines an auditory threshold for each frequency. Particularly, thehearing ability tester 171 performs the binary search method todetermine a user's auditory threshold.

More specifically, the hearing ability tester 171 selects a testfrequency among plural candidate test frequencies (e.g., 250 Hz, 500 Hz,1 kHz, 2 kHz, 4 kHz, and 8 kHz). Herein, the test frequency may beselected randomly or in an ascending or descending order. The hearingability tester 171 reads the test sound pressure ranges configured forthe respective frequencies from the storage unit 130 and selects thetest sound pressure based on the test sound pressure ranges. Forexample, when the test sound pressure range for 1 kHz is 0 dB to 80 dB,the hearing ability tester 171 reads the selected test frequency and thetest sound corresponding to the selected test sound pressure from thestorage unit 130 and outputs them to the audio processing unit 150. Theaudio processing unit 150 performs D/A conversion on the test sound tooutput the analog signal to the speaker (SPK) or the headphone 200through the external device interface 160.

The hearing ability tester 171 stores a user response to a test sound inthe storage unit 130. For example, if a user hears a test sound of [1kHz, 40 dB], the hearing ability tester 171 stores [1 kHz, −40 dB].However, if the user does not hear the test sound, then [1 kHz, +40 dB]is stored in the storage unit 130. Here, “−” indicates that the auditorythreshold exists below 40 dB in the test sound pressure range, and “+”indicates that the auditory threshold exists above 40 dB. The hearingability tester 171 reconfigures the test sound pressure range of thetest frequency, e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 2.

More specifically, according to the user response to the test sound, thehearing ability tester 171 divides the currently-configured test soundpressure range into one region having the auditory threshold and anotherregion having no auditory threshold. Thereafter, the hearing abilitytester 171 reconfigures the region having the auditory threshold as anew test sound pressure range and stores the new test source pressurerange in the storage unit 130. If the difference between the highest andlowest levels of the reconfigured test sound pressure range is less thanor equal to a predetermined minimum range (e.g., 5 dB), the hearingability tester 171 determines the reconfigured test sound pressure rangeas the auditory threshold of the test frequency.

The hearing ability tester 171 can determine either the highest level,the lowest level, or the average of the highest and lowest levels as theauditory threshold. For example, if the reconfigured test sound pressurerange is 50 dB to 55 dB, the hearing ability tester 171 can determinethe auditory threshold to be 55 dB, 50 dB, or 52.5 dB.

The audio decoder 172 receives the audio signal from the radiocommunication unit 140 in the form of a bitstream, decodes the receivedaudio signal into Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) format, and outputs thePCM signal to the noise suppressor (noise reduction unit) 173. In thepresent invention, the decoded audio signal may be a multimedia audiosignal.

The noise suppressor 173 suppresses the noise component included in thereceived audio signal and outputs the noise-suppressed signal to thedynamic range controller 174. If Flag_ON is received from the hearingability tester 171, the noise suppressor 173 performs noise gating andnoise suppression. Herein, noise gating is a function that removes thenoise component added to the received audio signal (i.e., noise outsideof the dynamic range). Flag_ON is a control signal requesting theoptimization of the audio quality based on the hearing characteristicsof the user.

More specifically, if Flag_ON is received from the hearing abilitytester 171, the dynamic range controller 174 adjusts the preconfigureddynamic range to be suited for the hearing characteristic of the user.That is, the dynamic range controller 174 adjusts the dynamic range foreach frequency using the auditory threshold. For example, when a user'sauditory threshold is 20 dB at the frequency of 1 kHz, the dynamic rangecontroller 174 analyzes the 1 kHz component among the frequencycomponents of the received audio signal and, if the analysis resultindicates that 1 kHz frequency component of the received signal has asize of 10 dB, the dynamic range controller 174 may adjust the size ofthe 1 kHz frequency component of the received signal from 10 dB to 20 dBor more, such as 25 dB. That is, because the dynamic range of the 1 kHzcomponent is adjusted from 0-80 dB to 20-80 dB, and the analysis resultindicates that the 1 kHz frequency component of the received signal hasa size of 10 dB, which is outside the adjusted dynamic range of the 1kHz component, the size of the 1 kHz frequency component of the receivedsignal is adjusted from 10 dB to 20 dB or more, which is within theadjusted dynamic range of the 1 kHz component. For example, beforeadjusting the dynamic range, there are 80 levels between 0 and 80 dB.After adjusting the dynamic range, there are 60 levels between 20 and 80dB. However, since the input audio signal can be one of 0-80 dB, 80levels between 20 and 80 dB are needed. For example, the width of eachlevel is therefore 0.75 dB. Then 10 dB are needed to convert to20+(0.75*10 dB)=27.5 dB.

Similarly, when the user's auditory threshold is 10 dB at the frequencyof 2 kHz, the dynamic range controller 174 analyzes the 2 kHz componentamong the frequency components of the received audio signal and, if theanalysis result indicates that the 2 kHz frequency component of thereceived signal has a size of 5 dB, the dynamic range controller 174 mayadjust the size of the 2 kHz frequency component from 5 dB to 10 dB ormore such as 13 dB. That is, because the dynamic range of the 2 kHzcomponent is adjusted from 0-80 dB to 10-80 dB, and the size of the ofthe 2 kHz frequency component is 5 dB, which is outside the adjusteddynamic range, the dynamic range controller 174 adjusts the size of theof the 2 kHz frequency component from 5 dB to 10 dB or more, which iswithin the adjusted dynamic range.

The procedure is performed for all frequency components so that thereceived audio signal is automatically adjusted in adaptation to auser's auditory thresholds for each frequency.

If Flag_ON is not received from the hearing ability tester 171, thedynamic range controller 174 delivers the received audio signal to thesound pressure adjuster 175 without adjustment.

The sound pressure adjuster 175 automatically adjusts the sound pressureof the received audio signal from the dynamic range controller 174, withor without adjustment in dynamic range, according to the preconfiguredsound pressure output characteristic and outputs the soundpressure-adjusted audio signal to the tone color adjuster 176. Forexample, an audio signal may be preconfigured to output within a soundpressure range from 7 dB to 80 dB. When the received audio signal has asound pressure of 40 dB, the sound pressure adjuster 175 may output thereceived audio signal without sound pressure adjustment. When thereceived audio signal has a sound pressure of 90 dB, the sound pressureadjuster 175 may lower the sound pressure of 90 dB to 80 dB and outputthe received audio signal with the lowered sound pressure of 80 dB. Whenthe received audio signal has a sound pressure of 5 dB, the soundpressure adjuster 175 may increase the sound pressure of 5 dB to 7 dBand output the received audio signal with the increased sound pressureof 7 dB. That is, the sound pressure adjuster 175 automatically matchesthe size of the signal to the preconfigured sound pressure outputcharacteristic in the time domain.

The tone color adjuster 176 adjusts the tone color of the received audiosignal by applying a filter coefficient satisfying a predefinedfrequency response and outputs the tone color-adjusted audio signal tothe audio processing unit 150.

Alternatively, the sound pressure adjuster 175 and the tone coloradjuster 176 may be omitted. That is, the received audio signal outputby the dynamic range controller 174 can be input directly to the audioprocessing unit 150, without adjustment in sound pressure and tonecolor.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a hearing ability test methodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the control unit 170 determines whether there is aparameter for changing the dynamic range in step 410. If the parameteris not included in the storage unit 130, the control unit 170 mayperform hearing ability test in step 420. If the parameter is includedin the storage unit 130, the control unit 170 may not perform thehearing ability test. The hearing ability test may be performed inresponse to a user request.

In step 430, the control unit 170 determines whether the hearing abilitytest is completed. For example, the control unit 170 controls thetouchscreen 110 to display a “restart” button and a “done” button. Ifthe “done” button is selected by the user, the control unit 170determines that the hearing ability test is completed in step 430 andstores the parameter generated from the hearing ability test in thestorage unit 130 in step 440.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a hearing ability test methodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, FIG.5 illustrates the hearing ability test step 420 of FIG. 4 in moredetail.

Referring to FIG. 5, the control unit 170 detects the user's hearingability test request. For example, the control unit 170 detects the tapon a settings icon on the touchscreen 110. The touchscreen 110 displaysthe settings menu screen having the icons of the functions related tothe hearing test under the control of the control unit 170. The controlunit 170 selects a hearing test target frequencies and a test soundpressure range according to the hearing ability test request of the user(e.g. tap on the icon) at step 501. For example, the hearing test targetfrequencies may be 250 Hz, 500 Hz, 1 kHz, 2 kHz, 4 kHz, and 8 kHz, andthe test sound pressure range may be 0 dB to 80 dB.

If the user's test start request (e.g. tap on the ‘start’ button) isdetected, a preliminary test is performed in step 503. In thepreliminary test, the control unit 170 first sets the test soundpressure to (0+80)/2=40 dB, outputs the test sound of 40 dB per testfrequency to the audio processing unit 150 at an interval (e.g., 1second), and stores the user response result in the storage unit 130.For example, the user may respond to the respective test sounds, i.e.,indicate whether or not the test sound can be heard, as (250 Hz, 40dB)=NO, (500 Hz, 40 dB)=YES, (1 kHz, 40 dB)=YES, (2 kHz, 40 dB)=YES, (4kHz, 40 dB)=NO, and (8 kHz, 40 dB)=NO. These response results are thenstored in the storage unit 130. The control unit 170 reconfigures thetest sound range and stores the reconfiguration result in the storageunit 130. Thereafter, the control unit 170 selects the test frequencyfor use in the hearing ability test.

In step 505, the control unit 170 selects the test sound pressure. Morespecifically, the control unit 170 reads the test sound pressure rangeof the selected test frequency from the storage unit 130. Next, thecontrol unit selects the test sound pressure at the center of the testsound pressure range. For example, if the test frequency is 250 Hz andthe test sound pressure range for 250 Hz is 40 dB to 80 dB, from thepreliminary test result, the center of the test sound pressure range,i.e., 60 dB, is selected as the test sound pressure.

In step 507, the control unit 170 outputs the test sound correspondingto the selected test frequency and the selected test sound pressure tothe audio processing unit 150.

In step 509, the control unit 170 determines whether the user respondsto the test sound. For example, the user can input a user input of “yes”when the sound is heard, or “no” when the sound is not heard.Alternatively, if a key input is entered within 1 second of the outputof the test sound, the control unit 170 determines that the user hasheard the test sound and, otherwise, after the 1 second, the controlunit 170 determines that the user has not heard the test sound.

FIG. 6 illustrates examples of screens displayed to a user during ahearing ability test according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the control unit 170 displays a message “Can youhear the beep?”, as illustrated in screen (a) of FIG. 6. If the YESbutton is selected in response to the message, the control unit 170determines that the user has heard the test sound. If the NO button isselected, the control unit 170 determines that the user has not heardthe test sound.

Referring again to FIG. 5, if the user hears the test sound in step 509,the control unit 170 stores the response result in the storage unit 130and reconfigures the range below the test sound pressure, as a new testsound pressure range, in step 511. For example, if the user hears thetest sound of [250 Hz, 60 dB], the control unit 170 resets the testsound pressure range at 250 Hz to 40 dB to 60 dB.

If the user does not hear the test sound in step 509, the control unit170 stores the response result in the storage unit 130 and reconfiguresthe range above the test sound pressure, i.e. from 60 dB to 80 dB, as anew test sound pressure range, in step 513.

In step 515, the control unit 170 selects the test sound pressure of thetest sound to be output next. For example, the test sound pressure of 50dB is selected for the reconfigured test sound pressure range of 40 dBto 60 dB, and the test sound pressure of 70 dB is selected for thereconfigured test sound pressure range of 60 dB to 80 dB.

In step 517, the control unit 170 determines whether the reconfiguredtest sound pressure range, i.e., the range having the auditorythreshold, is narrower than a predetermined minimum range, e.g., 5 dB.If the reconfigured test sound pressure range is greater than or equalto 5 dB, the procedure returns to step 507.

If the reconfigured test sound pressure range is less than 5 dB, thecontrol unit 170 determines the reconfigured test sound pressure rangeas the auditory threshold at the corresponding frequency and stores theauditory threshold in the storage unit 130 in step 519.

In step 521, the control unit 170 determines whether the auditorythreshold is determined at all of test frequencies.

If the auditory threshold is not determined at each test frequency, thecontrol unit 170 selects a next test frequency in step 523, and steps505 to 521 are repeated for the next test frequency.

For example, the control unit 170 may randomly select one of thenon-tested frequencies in step 523. That is, the control unit 170 canshuffle the order of the non-tested frequencies and randomly select afrequency to be tested next. If the frequencies are shuffled to theorder of 250 Hz, 1 kHz, 8 kHz, 500 Hz, 4 kHz, and 2 kHz, and if the 250Hz is determined as the auditory threshold, 1 kHz is selected as thenext frequency to be tested.

If the auditory threshold is determined at each test frequency in step521, the control unit 170 determines whether to perform a retest in step525. For example, if the auditory thresholds of all of the testfrequencies are determined, the control unit 170 controls thetouchscreen 110 to display a test result screen, as illustrated inscreen (b) of FIG. 6.

Referring again to FIG. 6, upon detecting the selection of the “done”button 610, the control unit 170 ends the test and stores the auditorythreshold in the storage unit 130. However, upon detecting the selectionof the “restart” button 620, the control unit 170 performs the testagain.

Additionally, the control unit 170 may ask the user whether or not toapply the test result, as illustrated in screen (b) of FIG. 6. Forexample, if the “no” button 630 and the “done” button are selected, thecontrol unit 170 stores the auditory threshold, but does not performtelephony audio quality optimization. If the “optimized for left ear”item 640 or “optimized for right ear” item 650, and the “done” button610 are selected, the control unit 170 stores the auditory thresholdsand performs selected telephony audio quality optimization using thestored auditory thresholds.

Although FIG. 5 illustrates the preliminary test in step 503 beingperformed at individual test frequencies in series, the test proceduremay be performed without the preliminary test.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a hearing ability test methodaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 7, steps701 to 709 are the same as steps 501 to 509 in FIG. 5. Accordingly, arepetitive description of these steps will be avoided in the descriptionof FIG. 7.

Referring to FIG. 7, if the user hears the test sound in step 709, thecontrol unit 170 randomly selects a test frequency of the test sound tobe output in step 711. More specifically, the control unit 170 rules outtest frequencies at which the auditory threshold has been determined,and randomly selects a frequency among the remaining frequencies. Thecontrol unit 170 stores the user response to the test sound output instep 707 and reconfigures the region below the test sound pressure asthe test sound pressure range of the corresponding test frequency instep 713.

If the user does not hear the test sound in step 709, the control unit170 randomly selects the test frequency of the test sound to be outputnext in step 715. As described above, the control unit 170 rules outtest frequencies at which the auditory threshold has been determined,and randomly selects a frequency among the remaining frequencies. Thecontrol unit 170 stores the user response to the test sound output instep 707 and reconfigures the region above the test sound pressure asthe test sound pressure range of the corresponding test frequency instep 717.

In step 719, the control unit 170 selects the center sound pressure ofthe current test sound pressure range of the test frequency (selected instep 711 or 715) as the test sound pressure.

In step 721, the control unit 170 determines whether the test soundpressure range, i.e., the region having the auditory threshold less thanor equal to a predetermined minimum range (e.g., 5 dB).

If the test sound pressure range is greater than 5 dB, the procedurereturns to step 707, and the control unit 170 performs the binary searchprocess on the test frequency selected in step 711 or 715.

If the test sound pressure range is less than or equal to 5 dB, thecontrol unit 170 determines the test sound pressure range configured forthe test frequency selected in step 711 or 715 as the auditory thresholdof the corresponding frequency, and then stores the auditory thresholdin the storage unit 130 in step 723. For example, if the current testsound pressure range configured at 1 kHz is from 55 dB to 60 dB, i.e., 5dB, the auditory threshold at 1 kHz becomes 57.5 dB. Accordingly, thetest sound pressure selected in step 719 is determined as the auditorythreshold.

The control unit 170 determines whether or not the auditory thresholdsof all of the test frequencies are determined in step 725. If theauditory thresholds of all of the test frequencies are determined, thecontrol unit 170 ends the test.

If the auditory thresholds of all of the test frequencies are notdetermined, the control unit 170 randomly selects the next testfrequency in step 727, and the procedure returns to step 705 to test thenext frequency. As described above, the control unit 170 rules out testfrequencies at which the auditory threshold has been determined, andrandomly selects a frequency among the remaining frequencies.

Although FIG. 7 illustrates a preliminary test being performed atindividual test frequencies in series, the test procedure may beperformed without the preliminary test.

Unlike FIG. 5, in which the test frequency is changed after thedetermination of the auditory threshold, in FIG. 7, the test frequencyis changed randomly, regardless of the determination of the auditorythreshold.

In FIG. 5, because a next sound is produced at an expected interval, auser may incorrectly perceive that the next test sound is heard. Becausethe test frequency and the test sound pressure change at every test, thehearing ability test method in FIG. 7 is more effective than thedescending method, ascending method, the hybrid method, and the methodillustrated FIG. 5 in preventing the user from predicting the next testsound.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method for optimizing telephonyaudio quality to a user according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 8, in step 810, the control unit 170 receives theaudio signal in the form of a bitstream from the radio communicationunit 140 and decodes the received audio signal into Pulse CodeModulation (PCM) format. In step 820, the control unit 170 determineswhether to perform the telephony audio quality optimization. Forexample, if a parameter (e.g., an auditory threshold) is stored in thestorage unit 130, the control unit 170 determines to perform thetelephony audio quality optimization. If there is no auditory thresholdstored in the storage unit 130, the control unit 170 determines not toperform the telephony audio quality optimization.

Alternatively, whether or not to perform the telephony audio qualityoptimization may be determined by the user.

FIG. 9 illustrates examples of screens displayed to a user foroptimizing an in-call sound setting according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

Referring to FIG. 9, the telephony audio quality optimization may bedetermined during telephony communication.

More specifically, referring to screen (a) in FIG. 9, the control unit170 controls the touchscreen 110 to display the telephony screen 910.The telephony screen 910 includes profile photo of the counterparty.Upon detection of a menu call key selection, the control unit 170controls the touchscreen 110 to display a first menu 920 on thetelephony screen 910. The control unit 170 detects the selection of“In-call sound EQ” item of the first menu 920 and controls thetouchscreen 110 to display the second menu 930, as illustrated in screen(b) of FIG. 9, which is related to the equalizer on the telephony screen910.

The second menu 930 includes an EQ off item, a soft sound item, a clearsound item, an “optimized for left ear” item, and an “optimized forright ear” item. If one of the “optimized for left ear” and “optimizedfor right ear” items is selected, the control unit 170 determines toperform the telephony audio quality optimization for the selected ear.

FIG. 10 illustrates examples of screens displayed to a user for settingtelephony audio quality according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 10, the telephony audio optimization may be determinedbefore the start of telephony communication. In screen (a) of FIG. 10,the touchscreen 110 displays a telephony button 1010 under the controlof the control unit 170. When the telephony button 1010 is selected, thecontrol unit 170 controls the touchscreen 110 to display the telephonyscreen 1020, as illustrated in screen (b) of FIG. 10. When a menu callkey is selected, the control unit 170 controls the touchscreen 110 todisplay the telephony setting menu 1030 on the telephony screen 1020.When a telephony setting button 1031 is selected from the telephony menu1020, the control unit 170 controls the touchscreen 110 to display thetelephony setting screen 1040, as illustrated in screen (c) of FIG. 10.

When a telephony audio quality setting button 1041 is selected on thetelephony setting screen 1040, the control unit 170 controls thetouchscreen 110 to display a telephony audio quality setting screen1050, as illustrated in screen (d) of FIG. 10. When a telephony audioquality optimization button 1051 is selected on the telephony audioquality setting screen 1050, the control unit 170 determines to performthe telephony audio quality optimization.

Referring again to FIG. 8, if telephony audio quality optimization isnot to be performed in step 820, the control unit 170 suppresses thenoise component included in the received audio signal in step 830.However, if telephony audio quality optimization is to be performed instep 820, the control unit 170 performs noise gating along with noisesuppression in step 840. In step 850, the control unit 170 adjusts thedynamic range for each test frequency using a parameter (e.g., anauditory threshold) read from the storage unit 130 and adjusts thenoise-suppressed and noise-gated audio signal using the adjustedper-frequency dynamic ranges.

In step 860, the control unit 170 adjusts the sound pressure of theaudio signal, which has been noise-suppressed in step 830 or adjusted instep 850, to be suited for a predetermined sound pressure outputcharacteristic. In step 870, the control unit applies a filtercoefficient satisfying a predetermined frequency response to thereceived audio signal to adjust the tone color of the received audiosignal and then outputs the tone color-adjusted audio signal to theaudio processing unit 150. The audio processing unit 150 performs D/Aconversion on the audio signal from the control unit 170, amplifies theanalog audio signal, and outputs the amplified audio signal to thespeaker (SPK).

Alternatively, the sound pressure adjustment in step 860 and the tonecolor adjustment in step 870 may be omitted. That is, the control unit170 may output the received audio signal to the audio processing unit150 without adjusting the sound pressure and the tone color.

A mobile device and method according to any of the above-describedembodiments of the present invention are capable of processing areceived audio signal in adaptation to hearing characteristics of auser, in order to output audio that is best-suited for the user.

The above-described audio signal processing methods according toembodiments of the present invention can be implemented in the form ofcomputer-executable program commands and stored in a computer-readablestorage medium. The computer readable storage medium may store theprogram commands, data files, and data structures in individual orcombined forms. The program commands recorded in the storage medium maybe designed and implemented for various embodiments of the presentinvention or used by those skilled in the computer software field. Thecomputer-readable storage medium includes magnetic media such as afloppy disk and a magnetic tape, optical media including a Compact Disc(CD) ROM and a Digital Video Disc (DVD) ROM, a magneto-optical mediasuch as a floptical disk, and the hardware device designed for storingand executing program commands such as ROM, RAM, and flash memory. Theprograms commands include the language code executable by computersusing the interpreter as well as the machine language codes created by acompiler. The aforementioned hardware device can be implemented with oneor more software modules for executing the operations of the variousembodiments of the present invention.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and describedwith reference to certain embodiments thereof, it will be understood bythose of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form anddetails may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention as defined by the following claims and theirequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for customizing audio data processing,the method comprising: receiving audio data through a wirelesscommunication channel from an external device; decoding the receivedaudio data; reducing noise of the decoded audio data; identifyinghearing characteristics of a user by testing hearing abilities of theuser at a plurality of frequency bands; adjusting a dynamic range ofeach of the plurality of frequency bands based on the hearingcharacteristics; processing the noise-reduced audio data based on theadjusted dynamic range of each of the plurality of frequency bands; andoutputting the processed audio data.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinreducing the noise of the decoded audio data comprises: determiningwhether or not audio quality optimization is to be performed; if theaudio quality optimization is not to be performed, suppressing the noiseincluded in the decoded audio data; and if the audio qualityoptimization is to be performed, suppressing the noise included in thedecoded audio data and removing noise outside of the dynamic range fromthe decoded audio data.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein testing thehearing abilities comprises identifying an auditory threshold for eachof the plurality of frequency bands.
 4. The method of claim 3, whereinidentifying the auditory threshold for each of the plurality offrequency bands comprises: selecting one of the plurality of frequencybands as a test frequency; selecting a test sound pressure from a testsound pressure region of the test frequency; outputting a test soundcorresponding to the selected test frequency and the selected test soundpressure; receiving a user response to the test sound; dividing the testsound pressure region of the test frequency into an auditory thresholdabsence region and an auditory threshold presence region, based on thereceived user response and the selected test sound pressure; determiningif the auditory threshold presence region is within a predeterminedminimum range; and determining the auditory threshold based on theauditory threshold presence region, when the auditory threshold presenceregion is within the predetermined minimum range.
 5. The method of claim4, wherein when the auditory threshold presence region is not within thepredetermined minimum range, testing the hearing abilities of the userfurther comprises: repeatedly reconfiguring the auditory thresholdpresence region as a reconfigured test sound pressure region of the testfrequency, selecting a second test sound pressure from the reconfiguredtest sound pressure region of the test frequency, outputting a secondtest sound corresponding to the selected test frequency and the selectedsecond test sound pressure, receiving a second user response to thesecond test sound, and dividing the reconfigured test sound pressureregion of the test frequency into the auditory threshold absence regionand the auditory threshold presence region, based on the received seconduser response and the selected second test sound pressure, until theauditory threshold presence region is within the predetermined minimumrange; and determining the auditory threshold based on the auditorythreshold presence region, when the auditory threshold presence regionis within the predetermined minimum range.
 6. The method of claim 4,wherein determining the auditory threshold based on the auditorythreshold presence region comprises setting the auditory threshold asone of a lower limit of the auditory threshold presence region, an upperlimit of the auditory threshold presence region, and an average of thelower limit of the auditory threshold presence region and the upperlimit of the auditory threshold presence region.
 7. The method of claim4, wherein determining the auditory threshold based on the auditorythreshold presence region comprises setting the auditory threshold asone of a lower limit of the auditory threshold presence region, an upperlimit of the auditory threshold presence region, and an average of thelower limit of the auditory threshold presence region and the upperlimit of the auditory threshold presence region.
 8. The method of claim1, wherein adjusting the dynamic range of each of the plurality offrequency bands comprises adjusting one of an upper limit and a lowerlimit of the dynamic range of each of the plurality of frequency bands,based on the auditory threshold for each of the plurality of frequencybands, respectively.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprisingreceiving a user input to adjust the decoded audio data based on theadjusted dynamic range of each of the plurality of frequency bands. 10.An apparatus for customizing audio data processing, the apparatuscomprising: a radio communication unit which receives audio data througha wireless communication channel from an external device; a speaker; anda controller configured to decode the audio data received by the radiocommunication unit, reduce noise of the decoded audio data, test hearingcharacteristics of a user at a plurality of frequency bands, adjust adynamic range of each of the plurality of frequency bands based onresults of the testing, adjust the noise-reduced audio data based on theadjusted dynamic range of each of the plurality of frequency bands, andoutput the adjusted audio data to the user via the speaker.
 11. Theapparatus of claim 10, wherein the controller is further configured toreduce the noise of the decoded audio data by: determining whether ornot audio quality optimization is to be performed; if the audio qualityoptimization is not to be performed, suppressing the noise included inthe decoded audio data; and if the audio quality optimization is to beperformed, suppressing the noise included in the decoded audio data andremoving noise outside of the dynamic range from the decoded audio data.12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the results of the testingcomprise an auditory threshold for each of the plurality of frequencybands.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the controller isconfigured to test the hearing characteristics of the user by: selectingone of the plurality of frequency bands as a test frequency; selecting atest sound pressure from a test sound pressure region of the testfrequency; outputting a test sound corresponding to the selected testfrequency and the selected test sound pressure; receiving a userresponse to the test sound; dividing the test sound pressure region ofthe test frequency into an auditory threshold absence region and anauditory threshold presence region, based on the received user responseand the selected test sound pressure; determining if the auditorythreshold presence region is within a predetermined minimum range; anddetermining the auditory threshold based on the auditory thresholdpresence region, when the auditory threshold presence region is withinthe predetermined minimum range.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, whereinwhen the auditory threshold presence region is not within thepredetermined minimum range, the controller is configured to test thehearing characteristics of the user by: repeatedly reconfiguring theauditory threshold presence region as a reconfigured test sound pressureregion of the test frequency, selecting a second test sound pressurefrom the reconfigured test sound pressure region of the test frequency,outputting a second test sound corresponding to the selected testfrequency and the selected second test sound pressure, receiving asecond user response to the second test sound, and dividing thereconfigured test sound pressure region of the test frequency into theauditory threshold absence region and the auditory threshold presenceregion, based on the received second user response and the selectedsecond test sound pressure, until the auditory threshold presence regionis within the predetermined minimum range; and determining the auditorythreshold based on the auditory threshold presence region, when theauditory threshold presence region is within the predetermined minimumrange.
 15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the controller isconfigured to determine the auditory threshold based on the auditorythreshold presence region by setting the auditory threshold as one of alower limit of the auditory threshold presence region, an upper limit ofthe auditory threshold presence region, and an average of the lowerlimit of the auditory threshold presence region and the upper limit ofthe auditory threshold presence region.
 16. The apparatus of claim 13,wherein the controller is configured to determine the auditory thresholdbased on the auditory threshold presence region by setting the auditorythreshold as one of a lower limit of the auditory threshold presenceregion, an upper limit of the auditory threshold presence region, and anaverage of the lower limit of the auditory threshold presence region andthe upper limit of the auditory threshold presence region.
 17. Theapparatus of claim 10, wherein controller is configured to adjust thedynamic range of each of the plurality of frequency bands by adjustingone of an upper limit and a lower limit of the dynamic range of each ofthe plurality of frequency bands, based on the auditory threshold foreach of the plurality of frequency bands, respectively.
 18. Theapparatus of claim 10, further comprising an input device configured toreceive a user input commanding the controller to adjust the decodedaudio data based on the adjusted dynamic range of each of the pluralityof frequency bands.